Sanctuary Asia Vol. XVIII. No. 3, June 1998 – 22

BANGLADESH’S

DECLINING

FOREST HABITAT

BANGLADESH’S

DECLINING

FOREST HABITAT

The rich biodiversity of

Bangladesh is under assault. In

the balance hangs the future of

both wildlife and people.

Unfortunately, nature and wildlife

conservation has never enjoyed

the same kind of attention that

human development issues have

in nearly thirty years of

independence.

BY IAN LOCKWOOD

ä A female Hoolock gibbon, one of the endemic species, found in the rich hill forests of Banladesh

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23 – Bangladesh

H’S

TAT

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TAT

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Sanctuary Asia Vol. XVIII. No. 3, June 1998 – 24

tucktoogecko

THE SMALL BOAT PUTTERED away leaving us on amuddy bank enveloped in the pitch

darkness of the night. No moon lit thepath, nor were there any stars visible, onlythe eerie glow of phosphorescent algaein the wake of our departing speed boat.But that too disappeared with the noisymotor, and we were left with the myriadsounds of the forest night. The air was cooland refreshingly clean, but I found it difficult toforget the fact that this extraordinary mangroveforest, the Sundarban, was one of the fewplaces in the world where tigers occasionallyeat people!

The darkness accentuated myimagination’s wild trip and I cursedmyself for not replacing the batteriesin my torch. Its faint beam caughtcurious-looking mudskippersnegotiating pneumatophores (upward growingroots that are a hallmark of mangroveforests), but did little to soothe my fear. Ourdestination, a rickety watchtower, lay less thana hundred metres away, yet all we could see werethe dark shadows of the jungle. The sound ofchital alarm calls pierced the blackness of the nightas I noticed that our sandy path was crisscrossedwith tiger pugmarks! The tower’s dark silhouette loomedahead and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I must bedreaming,” I kept telling myself. “Undisturbed forestsand tigers still left in this crowded country at the end ofthe 20th century?” But the goose bumps and excitementthat I felt in the wobbly watchtower were all too real tobe a dream.

BANGLADESH’S WILDLIFE AND ITS varied natural habitatshang in a precarious balance struggling to surviveamongst an expanding sea of humanity. Theconservation of wildlife and natural habitat has thus farnot been a serious priority amongst citizens nor the ofgovernment. Bangladesh is the most densely populatedcountry in the world (excluding city states), with 925people crowded in the average square kilometre! It is apoor country, with a $240 per capita GNP, if you are abeliever in this sort of assessment. The land, formedby the sedimentation of the huge Padma (Ganga),Jamuna (Brahmaputra) and Meghna rivers, is fantasticallyfertile. Blessed with plenty of rainfall and sunlight, it isan ideal place for things to grow (even people, thesardonic population expert will tell you). For these samereasons, Bangladesh also supports a high level ofbiodiversity within its small, crowded borders.

Although a relatively small country, Bangladesh has awealth of natural plant and animal diversity that is oftenoverlooked by wildlife enthusiasts. One of the reasonsfor this wealth is the fact that it is a transition zone and

includes species of moist deciduous tropicalmonsoon forests that once covered great swatches

of Bengal, still survive in the slightly elevated landbetween the cities of Tangail and Mymensingh. In the

northeastern district of Sylhet large haors(bowl-shaped depressions that form near-permanent wetlands) provide a winterhome for migratory birds. A few small butbeautiful patches of tropical evergreen and

semi-evergreen rain forests cloak the low hills ofSylhet. Further south, there are larger evergreen forestsin the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and along theCox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula. Because of the long-running tribal-Bengali conflicts in the CHT, little isknown about the status of these forests. A recently

signed peace accord between tribal insurgents andthe government will hopefully change this.

In the southwestern portion of thecountry lies the jewel of Bangladesh’sforests: the Sundarban (literally meaning

“beautiful forest” in Bengali). The largest singlemangrove forest in the world, two thirds of it liewithin Bangladesh, while the rest is in West Bengal.

In a move well received byconservationists, the governmentand UNESCO declared theBangladesh Sundarban a World

Heritage Site in December 1997. Aside from growingurban centres, the rest of the country is under intensivecultivation (rice and jute are the two most widely plantedcrops). But even in these agricultural areas, a varietyof habitats survive, supporting small populationsof different wild species.

Invariably, most people’s idea of Bangladesh has to dowith disasters, poverty and over-population. Floodsinundate the country annually, and violent cyclones killthousands of people every few years. Headlines, such“10,000 feared killed in cyclone” numb the senses andBangladesh just slips into one big disaster. But if youdig a little deeper, the nation is far from the basket casethat Henry Kissinger once accused it of being. Sinceindependence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh hasmade great strides on the socio-economic front. Literacylevels are steadily climbing, fertility rates have droppeddramatically, women have more rights than in mostMuslim countries and there are numerous successfulhomegrown economic development initiatives.Mohammed Yunus’ Grameen Bank, with its renownedmicrocredit program, is one of the best known of theseindigenous NGOs.

UNFORTUNATELY, NATURE AND WILDLIFE conservationhas never enjoyed the same kind of attention thathuman development issues have in nearly thirty yearsof independence. Several ambitious nature and wildlifeconservation initiatives were started in the early 1970s,

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25 – Bangladesh

but were soon doomed to failure. In 1974 theBangladesh Wildlife Preservation Order was passed andin 1976 a “wildlife circle” was created in the ForestDepartment (now the Department of Environment andForests). Unfortunately, scant resources and low interest,as well as outright resistance, within the ForestDepartment has condemned most of these programmesto history’s rubbish bin.

Partly because of this there are few people in Bangladeshwho recognize their country’s tremendous naturalheritage. The vast majority of the population lives inrural areas, depending on subsistence crops. Despitethe many benefits of protecting natural habitats, thesepeople can hardly afford the luxury of caring about thefate of the country’s biodiversity. Much more worrisomeis the indifference of the people who are educated andhave the power to make positive decisions. Thesedecisions and priorities are established by thegovernment and the ruling business and political elite.Amongst these city dwelling and educated classes,wildlife and natural habitat protection enjoys scantattention. In fact, the few people who are knowledgableabout the country’s wildlife wealth are more likely to behunting rather than conserving it!

Although scattered populations can be found in ruralareas, the greatest diversity of wildlife is concentrated inthe surviving forests and wetlands of Bangladesh. Itwas not that long when natural forests covered a greatdeal more than the 5.9 per cent forest cover that statisticsfrom the World Resources Institute now report. EastPakistan and, before that, Bengal, was frequentlydescribed as being a land most noted for its tiger-infestedjungles rather than its lack of tree cover! In the yearsfollowing the 1971 Liberation War a surge in the humanpopulation coupled with mismanagement of forests,led to dramatic habitat loss in the new nation. WRI,estimates that Bangladesh has lost 50 per cent of itsforest cover since 1970!

THE SAD DECLINE IS VIVIDLY illustrated by the case ofMadhupur Forest, the most significant example of themoist deciduous monsoon forest found northwest ofthe capital city Dhaka. In 1971, at the time ofBangladesh’s liberation from Pakistan, Madhupur stillretained much of its regal beauty. During the ‘71 war ithad been large and thick enough to keep the Pakistaniarmy outside of it, while providing an excellent hideoutfor the Muktibahini (freedom fighters). Having spentseveral happy childhood years on the edge of the forestbetween 1972 and 1975, I remember it being everythingthat a true jungle should be. Tall sal, Shorea robusta treesdominated the forest, but they were mixed in with avariety of 60 other deciduous species. Vines and thickundergrowth kept humans confined to a few well-wornpaths. Although elephants, Elephas maximus and tigers,Panthera tigris had disappeared by the 1930s, chital, Axis

axis and shy sloth bears, Melursus ursinus found refugein Madhupur in the early 1970s. Troops of brightlycolored capped langurs, Presbytis pileatus kept to the highcanopy, while far below a few leopards, Panthera parduswere still alive. The forest had a real feeling to it.

25 years later, Madhupur is only a shadow of itself. Itssize has shrunk to about 10 per cent of what it was atthe beginning of the century and 40 per cent of what itwas in 1973. The last tall sal trees are clustered around afew forest rest houses, while the remaining forest iscomposed of immature trees surviving amongst rottingstumps. Capped langurs still survive and the forest isan excellent birding site, but most of its original wildlifehas been wiped out. Thanks to foreign donors like theAsian Development Bank, exotic eucalyptus and rubbertrees have now replaced much of the natural forest. Eachmorning impoverished women and children walk intothe forest to collect sticks and leaves, unchallenged aslong as they pay their 10 TK “fee”. More heinous arethe trucks from the cities that enter the forest underthe cover of night, to take away the last large teak andsal trees.

THE OLDER INHABITANTS OF the forest, Mandis, or Garotribals, have seen their land and traditions destroyedwith the forest. Like other forest-based communities,they are seriously threatened by the great loss of forestin Bangladesh. A large part of the problem in Madhupurhas been the huge influx of non-tribal Bengali migrantsthat have flooded the forest (the population ofBangladesh has mushroomed in the last 30 years). Theinflux has put tremendous pressure on the forest andthe tribals who, in 1971, were the primary inhabitants.The Forest Department continues to behave like acolonial lord in Madhupur and has been in conflict withboth tribal and Bengali migrants. The delicate situationis well documented in the 1992 Forest Master Plan(produced by none other than the Asian DevelopmentBank, for the DOEF). The document makes concreterecommendations about the Forest Department needingto take into account the important role of tribals andother inhabitants in an effort to preserve Madhupur’s

brown winged

kingfisher

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Sanctuary Asia Vol. XVIII. No. 3, June 1998 – 26

ä Sundarbans – home to one of the largest tiger populations in the worldä The decimated semi-evergreen rain forest (facing page - top), Sylhet Districtä A wood cutter and his axe, amidst the denudation ( facing page – below), Sylhet Districtä Sunrise in the tropical evergreen rainforests (facing page - middle right), Lawachara Forest, Srimangalä Orchid, Dendrobium aggregatum (facing page – below right), Lawachara Forest, Srimangal

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27 – Bangladesh

ngal

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Sanctuary Asia Vol. XVIII. No. 3, June 1998 – 28

red-breasted

parakeets

unique habitat! But even in 1998, there is little evidencethat those who are supposed to be caretakers of theforests read the Master Plan. Nor is there any move tostop planting exotics on forest lands by the financiers.

Despite a handful of isolated individuals andinitiatives, wildlife conservation in Bangladesh is in adismal state of inaction. A few organizations areplugging away, but despite their good intentions theyhave not been able to achieve real success in the faceof the great destruction of Bangladesh’s naturalhabitats. A good deal of the problem, of course, isdue to the Department of Environment and Forest’sauthoritarian control over forests and their resistanceto making wildlife conservation a real priority. Thereare a handful of forest officers committed to wildlifeprotection within its walls, but since the disbanding

of the Wildlife Circle in 1983, they have not been ableto exert their influence on major decisions.

Where the department has invested in “conservation”programmes, it has all too often been inappropriate. InRema Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, there is a recentlyconstructed concrete wildlife-viewing tower placed neara degraded forest with no large mammals. In the heartof Lawachara, under a high canopy of native evergreenspecies, exotic acacia trees have been planted along a forestroad! Other plans for sensitive wildlife areas ofteninvolve “developing” picnic grounds, mini-parks, themerides, zoos and a host of other activities geared to pleaseurban and foreign tourists, all of which will bedetrimental for wildlife.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF organizations working for the

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29 – Bangladesh

Cox’s Bazar

Dhaka

Bhawal

Jessore

Khulna

Narayanganj

Chandpur

Barisal

Pabna

Sylhet

Lawachara

Satcheri

Pablakhali

Teknaf

Chittagong

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Bay of Bengal

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protection of wildlife and habitatconservation in Bangladesh: largeNGOs working alongside thegovernment and small independentNGOs. The most visible (and onlysignificant) organization in this firstcategory is the World ConservationUnion (WCU, previously IUCN).They have sponsored several studies,held seminars and produced a seriesof informative posters for use inschools. They, however, have theirlimitation since they work so closelywith the government and can not actas freely as is desired of an NGO.About ten years ago the IUCNembarked on a programme with theDepartment of Environment andForests to develop a NationalConservation Strategy (NCS). The ideais to devise a document thatspecifically designates conservationpriorities (something that has notbeen done in nearly 30 years ofindependence). This is due to becompleted in 1999, although muchdoubt surrounds how effective it isgoing to be.

The second type of conservationorganisation operating in Bangladeshis comprised of small NGOs whoundertake small studies and surveysfor larger development projects, suchas the massive and infamous FloodAction Plan (FAP). Notable amongthem is the Nature and ConservationMovement (NACOM) which hascarried out various studies, especiallyin wetland areas. In 1994 it produced an informativestudy Wetlands of Bangladesh with the Bangladesh Centerfor Advanced Studies.

There are also a number of smaller NGPs who have notyet played a significant role in wildlife and habitatconservation. These are, for the most part, groups thatoccasionally get together to bemoan the wildlife crisis,but have yet to make real change. Established originallyas a hunting organization the oldest of these is theWildlife and Nature Conservation Society (WMCS). It hasambitious ideas, but has thus far not been able to affectpolicy or protect any habitats. Two other similarorganizations are the Wildlife Society of Bangladesh andthe Bangladesh Bird Preservation Society. The IUCNsponsors a Biodiversity Contact Group but, again, theirmeetings tend to be spent arguing about how muchmembership rates should be instead of the country’salarming decline of biodiversity!

THE LIFELINE OF BANGLADESH’S forest and wildlife

wealth is at the breaking point. Perhaps nothing isneeded more urgently than recognition of the value ofwhat wildlife exists and the importance of conservingit. In other words – education! Public awareness remainsabysmal and there is a crying need for wildlife andenvironmental education in the country, amongst bothrich and poor. Then, of course, there is a pressing needfor the Department of Forest and Environment tocooperate and recognise the important role that it isrequired to play as the caretaker, not the destroyer of theforest. Considering that this has been written into lawin the early 1970s, this should not be difficult. Butvested interests continue to influence the Department,which is without doubt a source of destruction today.Having said this I hasten to add that without theDepartment’s cooperation the chances of any substantialconservation initiatives working are virtually impossible.Hopefully, improved education will help to put pressureon them.

ä

Map not to scale. Borders neither verified nor authenticated.

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Sanctuary Asia Vol. XVIII. No. 3, June 1998 – 30

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31 – Bangladesh

Bangladesh’swildlife wealthis on the edge of

extinctionBY IAN LOCKWOOD

ä Male Hoolock gibbon, Hylobates hoolock

telepara (top left), Satcheri Forestä Madhupur (top right), a shadow of its former selfä Adult capped langurs, Presbytis pileatus , with infant (above), in Madhupur National Parkä Forest guards on a beat (right), Madhupur National Park, near Mymensinghä Sunderbans (facing page), or "beautiful forest"

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Sanctuary Asia Vol. XVIII. No. 3, June 1998 – 32

from a few pug-mark claims from military people in theChittagong Hill Tracts, the tiger is almost certainly extinctin every other habitat outside of the Sundarban. Forestofficials estimate that there are 300-450 tigers in theBangladesh Sundarban. However, according toknowledgeable sources, the numbers are exaggerated. Amore realistic figure would be around 200 they suggest.But again the nature of the Sundarban makes this verydifficult to determine. Since independence, only short-term studies and imperfect censuses of tigers and otherwildlife have been conducted in the Sundarban.

Another big question is to what extent the huge tiger-poaching epidemic in neighboring India has affected theBangladesh Sundarban. While little has been published,there are unsubstantiated accounts of tiger poachingspecifically for the bone trade in the BangladeshSundarban. It is also thought that Bangladesh may be aconduit for the trafficking of wildlife products (includingtiger bones). But thus far the issue has yet to beinvestigated. In sum, the status of Bangladesh’s nationalsymbol remains unstudied and obscured in theimpenetrable, watery world of the Sundarban.

The evergreen and semi-evergreen rain forests of easternBangladesh still support the shy smaller cats includingthe fishing cat Felis viverrins, the leopard cat Felis bengalensisas well as jungle cats Felis chaus. Although they are rarelyencountered, their small pug marks can often be seen inthe sandy river beds of Lawachara, Satcheri and otherforests. There are reports of leopards in the ChittagongHill Tracts and, occasionally, in the Sylhet district. Manyof these stray in from reserve forests and national parks

FOR BANGLADESH’S WILDLIFE THE 20th century hasbeen a harsh period of extinction. Humanpopulation growth, deforestation and poor habitatmanagement has combined to overwhelmed naturalhabitats and many significant species have gone extinct.Hunting, although outlawed in 1989 by executive order,remains a popular activity amongst the privileged andhas added to this decline. Being a transition zone betweenthe Indian and South East Asian zoogeographicalregions, Bangladesh has a wealth of wildlife diversity.But it is a small area and thus endemism is rare. In factBangladesh is believed to have just one endemic species,the Bostami turtle Trionyx nugricans, found at a sufishrine in Chittagong. According to recent estimatesBangladesh has113 mammal species (out of 500 speciesin the Indian subcontinent), 690 species of birds (outof 1,200 in the Indian subcontinent), 123 reptiles, 19amphibians, 107 freshwater fish and 120 estuarine fishspecies (IUCN p.93/Thompson p. 5).

Extinction has been the fate of many of Bangladesh’slarge mammals as well as significant reptile, fish andbird species (IUCN p.92). Three species of rhinocerosas well as wild buffalo Bubalus buvalis, were found in thearea at the turn of the century but are now totally extincthere. The only place where you’ll find large herbivoreslike nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus, and banteng Bos banteng,is in the ill-maintained Dhaka Zoo.

AT THE APEX OF THE food chain is the much admiredand greatly endangered tiger. While one of its mostsecure habitats in the world remains the Sundarban, thetiger has declined everywhere else in Bangladesh. Aside

Official figures suggest there are 300-400Sundarbans tigers... 200 sounds more realistic!

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33 – Bangladesh

(such as Dampa in Mizoram and Balpakram inMeghalaya) across the border in India. In January 1998a leopard strayed into the Sunamganj area fromMeghalaya (near to Balpakram it is presumed). It wascaught and tortured by farmers before forest officialsrescued it. Within the same week a Dhaka newspaper,The Daily Star, reported the killing of two fishing catsin separate incidents.

While most of the large herbivores and predators havedisappeared, Bangladesh’s forests are still an excellentplace to see primates. Madhupur has a large populationof capped langurs that are easily observed, thanks to thefact that all the large, high canopy, trees have been cutdown. Lawachara and some of the other smallerevergreen rainforests are excellent places for Hoolockgibbons Hylobates hoolock, the only ape found in theIndian subcontinent. Their beautiful hoots and calls ringthrough the forest every morning, at a mystical qualitythat is difficult to describe. Lawachara also hosts Rhesusmacaques Macaca mylatta, Assamese macaques Macacaassamensis, and pig-tailed macaques Macaca nemestrina. Asmall troop of the very rare Phayre’s leaf monkey orDusky langur Presbytis phayrei is also found in Lawachara.The slow loris Nycticebus coucang is thought to survivein Lawachara and the other evergreen rainforests,although there have been no recent sightings.

ANOTHER SYMBOL OFTEN ASSOCIATED with the Bengal ofyesteryears is the Asian elephant. Although previouslyfound in the moist deciduous forests, wild populationsof elephants are now confined to the Chittagong Hilltracts and the forests between Cox’s Bazaar and Teknaf.It is estimated that there are approximately 125 wildelephants left in Bangladesh. Although there is a residentherd in the very degraded Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary,most of the elephants migrate from India and Burmain and out of Bangladesh. This has become a serioushazard as the border is now heavily mined. In the early1990s, Rohinga refugees fleeing persecution in Burmaflooded into the Teknaf area. The result has been analarming rise in deforestation and more mines alongthe border. Last year approximately 26 elephants diedfrom mine injuries on the border.

The only significant crocodile left in Bangladesh’s forestareas is the estuarine or salt water crocodile Crocodilesporosus found in the Sundarban. Although morecommon on the Indian side (where there is apparently abreeding farm), salties are often seen basking on themuddy banks of the Sundarban. The Gharial crocodileGavialis gangeticus is struggling to survive along thePadma river, but without protection its future is bleak.A study in 1985 found only 28 gharials and this numberhas most probably declined. The status of the marsh,or mugger, crocodile Crocodiles palustris is equallyprecarious and it is only found in captivity at a mosquepond in Bagerhat (near Khulna). The Sundarban is also

home to the water monitor lizard Varanus salvatorThere are several venomous snakes in Bangladesh,including the banded krait Bungarus fasviatus andRussell’s viper Vipera russelli. Indian pythons Pythonmolurus are still found in the Sunamganj Haors andChittagong Hill Tracts.

BANGLADESH IS HOME TO several freshwater turtles,including the endemic Bostami turtle. Several turtlespecies are exported for their meat under licenses fromthe Department of Environment and Forests. The Cox’sBazaar beach used to be a nesting ground for the OliveRidley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea, but increased humanactivity in this area has lead to a decline of turtle activity.Leathery Dermochelys coriacea , Hawksbill Eretmochelysimbricata and Green turtles Chelonia mydas are also foundin Bangladesh’s coastal waters. On January 27, 1998 theDaily Star published an alarming article on the extent ofturtle smuggling as well as turtle deaths along the coast.Based on a report by the Bangladesh Wild Fauna and FloraConservation Society, it brought to light a new and alarmingtrend. According to the report, the demand for turtlemeat has been increasing along with egg collecting. Thishas caused a serious decline in the five species of seaturtles found along Bangladesh’s coast. Smuggling, onthe other hand, is exacerbated by the fact that India andNepal have banned the export of turtles.

BANGLADESH REMAINS AN UNAPPRECIATED and rewardinglocation for both amateur and serious bird watchers.Although there are no endemic species, 699 species havebeen recorded with in the small area of Bangladesh!There are 28 globally threatened bird species as well as 35near-threatened species. Globally threatened speciesinclude the whitewinged wood duck Cairina scutulata,which is thought to survive in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.Pallas’s fishing eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus is notuncommon in the Sunamganj Haors and the maskedfinfoot Helipais personata is to be found along the smallcreeks of the Sundarban. Other threatened speciesoutside forest areas include the spoonbilled sandpiperCalidris testacea and Indian skimmer Rynchops albicollisfound in coastal mud flats.

The Department of Environment and Forest’s wildlifesection has identified four indicator species on the basisof which habitat evaluations can be undertaken indifferent areas. They are the gharial crocodile in the Westalong the Padma (Ganges) river, the tiger in theSundarban, the Hoolock gibbon in the Sylhet rainforests, and the elephant in the Cox’s Bazar region. Ashighlighted in the overview printed at the start of page22, these are purely symbolic acts. Whether any seriousconservation measures are enacted in Bangladesh onlytime will tell.

Ian Lockwood is a Dhaka based teacher and an environmentalistworking to protect the biodiversity of Bangladesh.

S

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